This invention relates to a flexible cup dispensing apparatus and particularly to the successive dispensing of nested, tapered cup-shaped articles such as plastic and paper disposable drinking cups and the like.
Disposable cups are used in homes, offices, factories and other environments. The cups are formed of paper, plastic and the like with a bottom wall and a tapered or conical sidewall to a top opening which may or may not have a lip structure. Generally, in paper cups, the upper end is formed with a rolled end. Plastic cups are often formed without a rolled end but have a slightly thicker open end than the principal portion or body of the cup. The cups are relatively flexible and stored in a telescoped stack of cups. Various holders for holding a stack of cups have been provided with a bottom opening for withdraw of the lowermost cup. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,842, which issued Apr. 25, 1967, discloses a cup dispenser consisting of a tubular housing within which the stack of cups are disposed. The bottom opening through which the cups protrude and are discharged include a plurality of inwardly projecting tabs which extend longitudinally and slightly inwardly to define an opening for the cups. The length of the tabs within the housing are varied to provide a successive holding action on the cups. Thus, as the first cup is pulled downwardly, all tabs flex outwardly. The shorter tab however is released and springs inwardly prior to the complete removal of the cup to exert a restraining force on the next adjacent cup and to hold it in position. The shorter tabs then supports the stack of cups within the tubular dispenser while the lowermost cup is completely withdrawn through the extended tabs or fingers. A somewhat similar structure is also shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,058,787, which issued Apr. 15, 1913, which discloses a plurality of circumferentially distributed fingers having curved portions adapted to provide engagement with successive lips in the stack of cups. A further cup dispenser is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,329 which issued Oct. 12, 1965. In this latter dispenser, the tubular member terminates in a bottom opening which is partially closed by horizontally extended fingers. The tongues as shown as generally frusto-conically shaped and project inwardly on a common circle. Generally, a pair of the tongues of essentially identical length are provided. The difference in the length of the tongues is on the order of 1/16th of an inch. The design is specifically for the paper-type cup having an encircling upper lip and with the cups in the stacked relation having the lips spaced slightly from each other. As the cup is pulled through the horizontally projecting lips, the slightly extended tongue grasps the side of the unit and the innermost tongue underlies the lip to support the stack of cups. With larger cup sizes, the tongues deflect downwardly into spaced holding engagement, with the innermost tongue again engaging the lip to support the stack. To withdraw the lowermost cup, one grasps the protruding lower cup portion and pulls downwardly. This results in a continued deflection of all tongues until the cup is released. On the larger cups, the patent structure relies on the engagement with the sidewall with the uppermost unit providing a flexible engagement with the sidewall of the enlarged lip. The close spacing of the edges permits the retention with the very resilient and deflectable lips which move through a relatively large angle without requiring a permanent set.
Although these and similar other devices are disclosed in the prior art, there is a need for a cup dispenser which will accommodate a wide range of different types and sizes of cup units from a standard dispensing unit in order to produce an effective low cost and universal type of an application. This is particularly true because of the advanced stage of the dispensing art where widely different sized cups are required at each installation. For example, in service stations and minute shopping units and the like, coffee and soft drinks are often dispensed with the size or quantity varying between relatively small cups of eight ounces or less to relatively large cups of thirty-two ounces. Further, from one installation to another, the cup size may vary from an opening of slightly over two inches to cups having top openings of four inches or more. Further, the cups may be formed of waxed paper, heat resistant paper, thin plastic, styrofoam plastic and the like. To provide a universal dispenser for all such cup varieties, the demands require very special consideration of the means to hold and support the cup structures.